


The Boy in the Mirror

by Anonymous



Category: Eboys420, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Magic, Mirrors, Supernatural Elements, Teenager AU, bon appétit, don't really know what this is, eboys, in the middle of those
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25378633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A treasure hunt gone awry leads Alex to a lonely boy. A lonely boy who also happens to be trapped in a mirror. Alex is intrigued, until he and his friends uncover the boy's story and realise things are far more sinister than they seem...
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26
Collections: Anonymous





	1. the first one

Alex was bored. 

Him and James had started throwing paper aeroplanes at Will's sleeping body to pass the time. So far, he hadn't woken up. However impressive, it meant they had to find something else to do apart from torment the Northerner. 

It was a Sunday, the kind of Sunday where the world is still, and everyone's too bored to even try to be not. They were all lying on a patch of the grassy fields on the edge of town. The sky was clear. The birds were quiet. The world had just stopped trying. 

Will had already finished the crisps they'd brought along. Alex could see a few wotsits laying around, but he didn't know where they'd been. He ate them anyway. Perhaps he'd turn orange. That'd be entertaining. Would you turn orange if you ate enough wotsits? He turned to ask James. 

James was in the most uncomfortable position imaginable, fast asleep. Just his luck. Alex screamed curses at the grass. Neither of them stirred. He wished he could sleep as soundly as them, really. Lucky guys. 

They hadn't really been around these fields so much, and he was hoping they would explore a bit and find something cool, like an old sword or whatever you find laying around. Maybe not a sword. He'd be happy with a few coins, the price of Freddos had gone up again on Thursday. Disgraceful, really. 

Then he had a revelation. If he found some valuable stuff laying around himself, he wouldn't have to split the cash with Will and James, because they would never know. And then he could flex on them with the amount of Lucozade he could afford, or something equally impressive. 

Yeah, that was a good idea. And so he scribbled out a note to the boys telling him he was going, as his Mum would have a go at him when he got back otherwise, and got up. 

There were some trees, and some sort of building. Not the best start to his treasure hunting career. He decided the building was probably cooler, and sprinted towards it for the fun of it, and the adrenaline. 

He'd never really seen a building like this before. It was a house, he thought, but almost falling into itself and crumbling apart. The windows were smashed and the bricks had been torn down, looking at it made him feel like he was in one of those horror movies where the kid is dumb and walks inside the haunted house. Luckily, he wasn't a dumb kid, so there was nothing to worry about there, he thought, jumping through a gaping hole in the wall.

Well, he was kinda disappointed. It was completely bare on the inside. Only rubble and smashed plaster, which wasn't very valuable or interesting at all. Maybe there was something in the other rooms? 

There were two other rooms downstairs, which were both in the same state as the first, so he continued his search upstairs. He nearly fell off the stairs as they were so broken and rickety, but he didn't actually, so he didn't need to worry. There were two rooms upstairs, one completely without a door so he decided to go in that one first. 

Well, it wasn't completely bare. Just disappointing. There was an old mirror here. Perhaps he could sell it for loads at auction like the Antiques Roadshow people on the TV. The people in that are all really old though, so maybe he would have to get James' help for that one, as he could easily fool adults he was one of them, a skill which has come in handy many a time. 

Maybe he could find the year it was made in or something, to see if it was valuable or not. He got out a packet of tissues from his jacket pocket and started wiping the dust away frantically. His mum would be proud of him cleaning so eagerly, so he slowed down a bit. The mirror was gonna be here forever. 

There was no markings on the back, or the sides, apart from some carvings of random flowery stuff and shapes of objects he couldn't make out. He wiped the front down as well, just in case there was something actually engraved on the mirror, he wasn't passing on the opportunity to be rich. He went to look at himself in the mirror, to imagine how he would look like soon enough when he was loaded, with gold chains round his neck and all.

He yelped and dropped the tissue. 

Alex stared. 

And the bluest eyes he had ever seen stared back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :o


	2. dos - first impressions

Years later, when Alex would tell the story of this fateful day, he would leave out the part where he screeched profanities for a minute straight and tripped over his own feet in fear. 

There was a boy in the mirror. 

A real one, or as real as a human being squished into a piece of glass could get. Was he squished into the glass? How did he get there? Who was he? Had he fallen asleep in that field as well and was just having a crazy dream? 

He screwed his eyes shut, overwhelmed, attempting to sit up, although how he expected to do that successfully he would never know, as he ended up bashing his head on the wall. 

Alex knew he definitely wasn't dreaming by then. He wasn't crying from the pain either, he'll have you know, he lay curled up on the floor cradling his head for a few minutes for no reason whatsoever. 

He opened up his eyes again tentatively, as if it would magic away the strange boy, although he wasn't sure if he wanted the boy to be gone. It wasn't everyday you found a guy chilling in a mirror. 

The boy had a mixture of concern and curiosity in his eyes, which Alex very much approved of as it meant he hadn't made as much of a fool of himself for his first impression as he thought he'd had. Maybe he'd have a chance to actually look cool for once. 

The more he studied the boy's face the more he became transfixed. The only way he could describe him was how the men in his mum's sappy lovey dovey books he wasn't meant to be reading were written- eyes that held entire constellations within them- or just like, he looked kinda wise? As if he'd seen a lot, but not really, as he was looking at Alex as if he was made of glittering diamonds, and Alex was just a normal-ish looking kid. 

The boy's eyes were the only part of him he could see clearly, actually, the rest of his features were just slightly fuzzy smudges, like his little brother's paintings. His skin was so white, he could say it was as white as snow, but not actual snow, because the snow over here is just black sludge, not like the movies. His skin was as white as pretend snow. Yes. 

Alex was awoken from his trance-like state of analysing the boy's face by a few hesitant taps. The boy was tapping on the other side of the mirror, maybe he was trying to talk to him? Was he trapped? How did this mirror actually work?

"Hello." Alex waved at the boy. 

The boy looked back blankly. What if the boy didn't even speak English? 

"Errr, Hola?" 

Nothing.

"Bonjour?" 

The boy raised his eyebrows. At least Alex thought he did. This clearly wasn't working. Alex pointed to himself, and in the most exaggerated tone possible, said 

"Me Alex" 

The boy put his hands in his head. Then he started blowing on the glass, fogging it up and wrote, in barely legible handwriting,

_ I can't hear you, Al...?  _

Alex drew out a reply.

_...ex. I'm Alex Elmslie. You are?  _

The boy looked oddly sad, for a moment, and Alex wished he could climb through the mirror and hug him, or pat his head, whatever people did to make others cheer up. The boy started to hesitantly spell out 

_ George.  _

George. That was his name. George. He stared at the name hard until it became a meaningless mix of letters.

George, the boy in the mirror.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. third- friend for the lonely

Will was confused.

He'd woken up surrounded by crisp packets and half empty Fanta bottles, in the middle of a field, and his foot really, really hurt. He looked down.

James was asleep in a position Will didn't even know the human body could make, and contrary to popular belief due to the slander Alex does to his name around town, Will would have been nice enough to let James rest.

However James had his foot in a death grip between his elbows, and Will rather liked his foot, so he did what had to be done. And so he punched James in the face.

"HFKQLIGJSNSWILL" James exclaimed, half asleep, fully panicked, eyes darting around wildly, clutching his hand to his reddening cheek.

Will tried to make it look like he wasn't laughing, because he felt maybe slightly guilty, although he supposed the bruise would make James look more like a 'bad boy', and then he'd get all the girls, so really, he was doing James a favour. He still offered the boy a lukewarm Fanta bottle as a substitute ice pack, and was subsequently subject to an impressive death glare. Well, he guessed he owed James for at least 2 months at best now.

"What time is it, you absolute cretin?" asked James, still maintaining his glare.

"...1...no wait 7 that's a 7, 7:12- no, 7:13 PM, and 2 seconds. 3 now. ooh, 4. 5-"

James was glaring harder. How intense could he get? It was probably best to not try to find out. Will was disgusted by his rational thinking. If only Alex were here, then Will would've gone in on James proper. It would be worth having to buy James his posh brand veggie crisps for a year afterwards to get him to talk to Will again.

If Alex was here- wait what? Wasn't Alex with them? Where did he go? Will started scanning the grass around them, as if Alex was some sort of tiny creature camouflaging about.

"Will, I swear, if you say you've lost your house keys again, your mum's gonna lock you in that creepy broom cupboard in your basement and leave you to starve." James rolled his eyes.

"Nah I've got the keys tied around my neck, see, we've lost a short, very loud, pinkish child- Alex, James, we've lost Alex."

"Thank goodne- OH NO." Will held comfort in the fact that he should never feel guilt for any remotely mean act, ever again, because James was ten times worse. He deserved that bruise.

"Nice, James, but what if he got kidnapped? What would you tell his family, like, I'm really sorry Ms Elmslie, but a sketchy man in a van ran off with your kid when we were having a kip in some grass? She'd never let us near her apple pie again. And there are many things I'm willing to sacrifice in this life, but please, spare me Ms Elmslie's apple pie. That stuff's heavenly. Also Alex is our mate we should probably, not, let him be kidnapped by wandering nonces." Will turned James' glare back on him.

"Alright fine let's look for clues or whatever for before he got kidnapped so we can, like follow the shady nonce who has our mate, and get kidnapped too, hooray! ...yeah alright Will I'm shutting up now and taking this very seriously."

James waved his hands around in the grass where Alex was sitting, and in return for his effort gets his hand covered in Wotsit powder. If you snorted enough Wotsit powder, would you go orange? Now that was a question to ask Alex. Now James had a good enough motive to find him.

Will was sniffing the ground, as if he could track Alex like a dog, leaving James both amused and concerned, leaning on the latter. He was getting his shirt sleeves muddy as well. Pity. It was a nice shirt. Will's mum got it on sale in Primark 4 years ago, and it only fit him now. It was a sort of beige colour, but also not, like Alex's little brother's baby sick. And then James noticed the massive piece of ripped paper stuck to Will's back.

"Will, turn around again, we're so dumb, he left us a note. Or maybe the kidnapper did. Lemme read it stop moving… ' _Gone around where the building near the bendy trees are to get rich so I can buy out the corner shop. p.s Will, everyone can hear you talk in your sleep, can't you shut up about Mi-'_ " Will ripped the note from James' hand, his face red. James smirked evilly. Oh yes, he would get Will back for that punch so good.

"Right you heard the man, off to the creepy looking building tree place we go, lastonetherelookslikeaburntpotato"

James didn't bother sprinting after Will. He was confident in the knowledge that he was irresistibly handsome.

They both stood outside the wreck of a house, feeling grateful they had a warm roof over their heads at home, and didn't live in this sad pile of bricks and dust.

"Go on then what are you waiting for the building's gonna collapse against the wind if you stand there any longer Jamesie" Will slid himself through the wall.

" Shut it I'm right behind you Williekins..  
that's just so cursed I'm genuinely sorry for bringing it into this world Will."

"That's what your mum said when you were born-"

Will tripped and fell on the floor at that very moment, coincidentally, and James had nothing to do with it at all. He got up, and his shirt was now dusty and muddy, which was immensely disappointing.

"Call his name he might hear us if he's here somewhere, honestly we're the worst detectives ever, ALEEEEEEEEX!!" Will bellowed at the top of his lungs. There was a crash above him. Someone was upstairs. Hopefully Alex, and not a serial killer.

Will and James ran up the stairs, nearly snapped their ankles, and proceeded to tiptoe as carefully and quickly as possible, their hands posed in an attempt at karate in order to dispose of any criminals up here.

Alex was standing in a doorway, absolutely caked in dust, trying to balance on one leg but failing, so he had to hop around a bit before he eventually put his foot down.

"Alex what?" Will asked bewildered.

"Attack pose," Alex answered, slightly embarrassed, "I thought you might be a serial killer."

"No way, man, same! So, what are you doing trying to get rich in this fine grand mansion we're in, because I'm absolutely baffled." Will had seen nothing apart from spiders and oddly smelling splintered wood beams laying around, and unless Will was in an alternate universe, those things weren't particularly valuable to anyone.

Alex stood straighter in the doorway, subconsciously blocking what was behind him. It felt weird, or wrong, kinda, telling the boys about George, even though he had only met him a few hours ago at best, because George was the first friend that was just his, and he was special. They were gonna find out anyway, though, so he might as well get it over with.

"Um, promise you guys won't freak out? It's kinda weird and hard to believe, but trust me it's true,-"

"Alex have you found a drug stash or not hurry up, I'm getting hungry."

"Shut up Will you're always hungry, you barely left any crisps for the rest of us, anyways more importantly, I kinda found a mirror, right, and I thought it might be worth something, so I cleaned off all the dust, and, um, there's a boy? Stuck on the other side of the mirror? It's really really weird I know, er his name is George and he looks around our age."

"Alex, did Will spike your Fanta again?"

"jAMES I've already told you a million times that was Stephen not me, I would never do anything bad ever… yeah maybe only sometimes…" Will whined indignantly.

"Stop it you two I'm being serious. Come, I'll show you if you don't believe me." Alex led them into the room. "Look into the mirror, you see him?"

Will and James stared at the mirror, then back at Alex multiple times, eyes clouded with puzzlement. Then they looked at each other silently.

"What? What's wrong? He's there, I can see him, he is!" Alex looked at George for answers, but George was curled in on himself, with his head bowed down.

Will and James were whispering amongst themselves, as if Alex wasn't there too.

"Alex, if this is some, weird prank can you just tell us now, because mate, we're worried about you." Will put an arm round Alex. Alex shrugged it off.

"Why would I lie to you guys about this? You're my best friends! There is a boy in the mirror, I absolutely swear he's there!" Alex was getting upset, they were looking at him with pity, when he was just telling the truth.

"Alex, there's no one there. I think it's time for us to go, it's getting late now, your head might feel better after a good night's sleep." James spoke to him softly, like he was a little kid. Alex hated it.

Will gently held his hand and led him out the door, and Alex took one last look at the mirror. George was looking at him sadly, still curled up, the words ' _I'm sorry_ ' drawn in the fog.

Alex was completely quiet, when the boys were leading him back home. James attempted to make small talk for a bit but the conversation never picked up, leaving them in awkward silence. Will was practically hugging Alex by the time they reached his house.

That night when Alex lay in bed, he thought about how he would never forget about George and would still visit him, even if no one else could see him apparently, and even if the whole world thought he was mad. He thought George was definitely terribly lonely, being alone in that house himself for such a long time.

Alex thought George deserved a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh nooooo. whatever will happen next. just incase anyone thought I was that anon who writes beautiful masterpieces on here, wanted to clarify I'm not the same one haha. this chapter wouldn't have been written without the comment on the last one inspiring me to do something productive so hooray, everyone say thanks to them. this is the longest piece of useless waffle I've written at the end of something so have a nice day (: ☆♡
> 
> :○


	4. 4444: rumours and belief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, I've got to add some trigger warnings for this chapter, which is something I've never done before, so please don't hesitate to let me know if I'm doing it wrong, or there is something else I haven't warned for, I just want you all to be safe (:
> 
> from where the bold /// slashes are there's mentions of going missing, death, murder, and suicide, and where the bold \\\\\ slashes are that's when it stops 
> 
> hope you enjoy and look after urselfs ♡

Sugar coated cardboard. That's what his cereal tasted like. Soggy misery in a bowl. Alex shoveled it all into his mouth as fast as possible, trying to spare himself the taste, which made his mum look at him, disapproving. 

"Alexander Elmslie, you clean that milk off of the table right this instant, you should know better than to eat like that in front of your brother, the way he tries to copy your every move." Ms Elmslie chucked a dishcloth smack in the middle of Alex's face. She had wonderful aim. 

True to her word, his brother started catapulting porridge everywhere. It was hilarious, until Alex's school tie was covered in the oaty slop. He didn't have time to get another one from upstairs, so he tried cleaning himself up with a tissue, and ended up spreading the stain even further, making it worse. It was fine, no one would notice, well they would, just Alex would pull it off casually enough to make it seem invisible. Fashion icon.

He checked his watch, and immediately jumped up. His bus was in 3 minutes. Less than that actually, the driver always came early, and Alex had begun to think the man enjoyed watching him miss the bus and was doing it on purpose the amount of times he was only a few seconds late. 

He slung his schoolbag over his back, grabbed his lunchbox and dramatically ran out the door, yelling a hasty goodbye at his mum. And he had forgotten his bus pass on the table, so he had to run half the way back home as well, leaving him knackered by the time he was at the stop.

Unsurprisingly, he had missed the bus. There was around 15 minutes till the next one, according to the board, but everyone knew the bus time board was never accurate, so it was more likely to be around 30. Alex's form tutor was gonna slay him where he stood when he came into school. 

Normally, when he was stuck at the bus stop he would play whatever mind numbing game he had installed on his phone that week, or listen to music, but he didn't feel like doing stuff how it was normally, because it wasn't really, was it? Not after yesterday.

The boys hadn't told anyone else, and Alex was sure that they wouldn't, they may not look like it to those who didn't know them, but Will and James were solid mates and he trusted them with his life. Still didn't make it any less awkward. They probably thought George was Alex's imaginary friend he never grew out of. He couldn't blame them though, if he was in their shoes he would probably think the same.

Alex didn't know how he was this calm. If you asked him on Saturday, he would've told you he hated the unknown, the feeling of not being able to know or control anything. Yet here he was, merely two days later, friends with a deeply mysterious stranger. 

There were so many questions he wanted to ask. How did he get there? Why? How old was he? Where was his family? How long had he actually been there? Was there any way he could leave? It was nothing he'd ever seen in movies or read in books before. Maybe he would find some answers in books. He walked down the road and pushed open the door to the library. 

It was silent, quite obviously, it was a library after all, and the musty smell of old pages surrounding him was actually quite comforting. He came here sometimes when he needed to be alone, it was warm and the cushions were soft, and there was little chance of anyone he knew running into him here. 

Alex thought it'd be best to look at books about the history of the town first, maybe he could learn more about the house and who used to live there. He asked one of the volunteer staff for where he might find a book like that, and received a raised eyebrow and a warning to be careful about poking around that house, although the lady did show him towards a shelf of dusty books and hand him a few. 

He took the books and curled up in a beanbag in the corner, opening up the shortest one first. Scanning his eyes down the contents page and flicking to the right section swiftly, he began to read. 

' _ There are many legends and tales of old surrounding the town, and even today they leave their mark on us through superstitions, traditions and artwork. St Roasden art gallery houses some breathtaking portraits of-'  _ Alex skimmed the page, he didn't really care about this bit.

' _ One of the most famous and widespread legends the town has produced is of a simple house on the South-Western outskirts, popularly dubbed 'The Lost House' or 'The Forgotten House'. However famous the rumours became, it was quite ironically forgotten as time passed, out of fear or respect, most likely both.  _

_ Any person who was a resident of the town around 12 years ago could never truly forget the events of those years, although now the topic is a taboo compared to then, when it was the topic on everyone's tongues.  _

_ If you ask people who were there, the events they recall vary from person to person, as the story became so twisted so fast, it is nearly impossible to separate the truth from rumour. The main, definite, facts are only the ones at the beginning and the end of this story.'  _ Alex was getting a little confused now, couldn't the author just say what happened and stop rambling? He skipped through a few paragraphs.

**////////////////////////////////////////////////////**

_ 'On the 10th of July 2007, a 14 year old boy went missing on his birthday. The police and volunteer residents led a search party for an entire month, yet nothing was found except the blood-stained items the boy had on him, which is where the rumours first started to form around.  _

_ Investigators found stones with strange carvings, papers bound together by string in foreign script, scented beads and more, all of which is now displayed in Amesphere museum in their crime and mystery exhibit.'  _ Alex thought that was kinda unfair, treating his stuff like entertainment, but kept reading, hooked. 

' _ The boy had been officially presumed dead only a few months after the disappearance, and has his name inscribed on a memorial plaque in the local secondary school he attended. Yet the town was left stunned by the suddenness and severity, and with no answers, the rumour mill began to turn.  _

_ The most widely believed rumour was that the boy's mother had murdered him- the details of how the town thought she had accomplished that are far too graphic for this book, and are absolutely horrific. The pain and agony the mother experienced being accused of doing such terrible things to her own son became too much, and she sadly took her own life in 2008.' _

**\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Alex felt sick. He shut the book and stuffed it in his rucksack along with the other two, leaving the library to sit at the bus stop again, the next bus was nearly there. When he finally got to school, nearly an hour late, and walked into Maths, he felt even worse. 

14\. Half his friends were 14. He was nearly 14. Alex couldn't imagine what it'd feel like to be torn away from everyone you loved that young. He took a sip from his waterbottle, spluttering, the water was at least a week old by now, he always forgot to refill it. 

A few minutes later he asked to be excused to go the toilet, his Maths teacher almost not letting him go as he had just come into school a while ago, but Alex's puppy eyes were his speciality, and he was soon alone, splashing water on his face, gripping the sink tight.

He didn't even realise he was crying until the door opened, and he had to quickly turn away and wipe his eyes on his sleeve. 

"Alex? What's wrong?" it was Will. He'd probably followed Alex from Maths, or was really good at guessing bathrooms. Will jammed a broom in the door handle, effectively locking it, tore some tissues from inside a stall, wet them slightly, and gently moved Alex's hands from his face so he could clean it up. Will would make a good nurse, Alex thought, sniffing. 

Alex wasn't dense. He knew the boy in the book was George. It had to be. It just made him feel horrendous, even though it hadn't happened to him, and even though he was only reading about it. He wondered if George even knew what had happened after he went missing. 

Will had taken off his blazer and laid it on the floor, gesturing for Alex to sit down with him. Alex was lucky to have such good friends, Will and James were like elder brothers to him.

Will started rubbing circles on his back, like his mum used to do after he had a nightmare when he was little. He felt safe, like home. Alex was going to tell Will about the books, but Will spoke first. 

"We believe you, me and James- James and I, whatever. You're our best mate and we trust you, even if we don't understand now, we'll try to, if you'll let us?" Will's face was scrunched in determination, and Alex would've laughed at how sillily adorable he looked, if it had been any other time. 

"Yeah, yeah of course, there's a bit of a story and I don't even know most of it myself, but yeah there's, there's no point keeping secrets. I'll tell you and James after school at his place, yeah? Thanks for not, ditching me and being so nice I know I don't deserv-" Will enveloped Alex in a hug, knocking the air out of his lungs. 

"Shut up, Al, we love you." 

And Alex loved them too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first chapter not written after 3am. spending hours straight on waffle is my speciality. feel free to comment anything. what's your favourite cereal? I like crunchy nut. I have porridge more though, so I can grow to be a big strong oaty anon.
> 
> love you all ☆ m w a h xx


	5. five (5) - the consequences of shoe hurling

James was subtly banging his head on his desk.

The final bell to signify the glorious, glorious end to the school day had rung seven minutes ago, and here he was, stuck in Geography, listening to his teacher drone on about the standard of their homework.

If any student was able to stay awake during her classes, maybe they would’ve written better volcano case studies or whatever they were supposed to do, James had gotten most of his essay from Wikipedia.

Will had taught him ages ago how to do it without anyone noticing, you just copy pasted an article into google translate, put it through random languages, and rewrote the end result into grammatically correct English. Genius.

Now the teacher had gone into the storage cupboard to bring out past example essays from 1992 probably.

As soon as she disappeared behind the door the entire class scrambled towards the exit, fleeing to their freedom, and James joined them, he had learnt well enough by now staying behind only meant she kept you behind and told you her life story in too much detail.

The corridors were mostly empty by now, only the occasional huddle of Year 7s beating each other up with their massive backpacks trying to look intimidating.

James was heading towards his form room, where he, Will and Alex had shared many a memory terrorising everyone else and causing havoc.

Last year they had gotten everyone banned from the room for 4 months after they tried playing football with a dictionary and ended up breaking a light and Alex’s finger. Their parents were fuming. Good times, good times.

That was probably why their form tutor looked like she had risen from the pits of hell whenever she saw them, it was well deserved.

They would normally all meet here after school ended, then take the bus together, as they all lived on the same route, but quite far apart. Will would get off first, after barely 15 minutes, then James 20 minutes after him, then, ages later, Alex, the poor guy, got off on the second last stop of the route and had probably spent half his life on that bus.

Alex would normally fall asleep, which meant James had balanced many, many random items on him. Yesterday it was an empty can of beans.

James pulled open the classroom door and only Alex was there, kneeling by his locker, stuffing French vocabulary sheets into his bag like he never wanted them to see the light of day again.

“Alex, those poor sheets man, they’re never gonna fit, how is your bag even that full?”

James pulled them out and straightened them, then took out some empty plastic wallets from his Spanish folder and slid them in. The only reason Alex’s work was remotely presentable was because of James, Alex’s teachers should be grateful.

“It’s because I’ve got loads of books in here too, there’s barely any space.” Alex shook his bag around violently, as if it would help, whacking James several times in the process.

“I’ve got some plastic bags in my locker you can use, let me get them out.” James had everything in his locker, and would never throw any of it away. Alex swore James still had the torn pieces of his torn rainbow shoelace from two years ago in there, ‘in case they might be useful in the future’.

James handed Alex a Waitrose bag for life. Alex smirked. James knew what was coming.

“TORRRRRR-” James threw his shoe at Alex, hitting him in the leg. Alex looked at the shoe. 

' _Don't do it, don't do it, don't-_ ' Alex ignored the only voice of reason in his head.

Alex threw James’ shoe out the window, narrowly missing a teacher, who looked straight up at them, furious.

“JAMESJAMESDUCKWE’RESODEAD!”

“ALEXYOUTINYBASTARDMYSHOE!”

Neither of them noticed the door open behind them.

“What the everloving fuck is going on here?”

Alex and James started in shock and turned around.

“Will stop doing your teacher voice to scare us you’re so meannn” Alex whined. Will cackled.

“Your faces are hilarious though, how I manage to get yous every time I’ll never know. But, actually, you two look like you’ve been through a warzone, and what happened to James’ shoe?” They explained their predicament, and Will laughed.

“Amateurs, I can get your shoe back in 5 minutes, time me” Will sprinted back out the classroom. Alex started counting in the most monotone voice he could produce.

True to his word, for once, he was back, with the shoe, in five minutes. All he had to do was bat his eyelashes at them and say he was taking it to lost property, and since the teacher apparently taught Will, he believed him.

Will Lenney, criminal mastermind. James and Alex wouldn’t admit it, but they were slightly impressed.

It was quite a while since school had ended, and if they waited any longer the buses would be full of annoyed adults commuting from work, so James reunited with his shoe, Alex put his books in the Waitrose bag, and Will got his jacket from his locker, and they were off.

Alex had already asked James if they could go to his place after school during their physics lesson, since they were in the same class, and James had agreed. James’ house was where they usually hung out, it was very nice and decent sized, and his dad never minded them coming round.

Alex sent his mum a quick text telling her he was going to be at James’, and they all raced each other to the bus stop. The bus came swiftly, for once, and they secured three seats next to each other.

Will found some sort of sweet in the depths of his jacket pocket, and they spent their journey discussing whether it was a poisonous substance or not, which resulted in James nearly being sick out the window after licking it. It was definitely toxic.

When they got to James’ house they said hello to Mr Marriott, who told James to give them some melon from the fridge as they were technically guests, despite coming round here all the time, and they all went up to James’ room.

James had spent the whole of last summer decorating his room, decided he didn’t like it after a week and was in the process of taking it all down, so it was an interesting mix of completely bland and intricately detailed.

They sat down on the carpet and Alex tipped the Waitrose bag, emptying the books onto the floor. Will and James peered at them, examining the covers. Will’s eyes widened.

“Pass me the one by you, Alex, let me see the author again.”

Will reread the name on the spine a few times, then pulled out his school planner, and flipped to one of the sections at the start, eyes rapidly scanning through pages, his tongue poking out from the sheer concentration.

Alex and James watched on, intrigued at what he was looking for so desperately. Will’s eyes paused halfway down the page and he spent nearly a minute flicking between the page and the author’s name, his smile widening. Alex and James leaned closer. Will burst out laughing.

“You’re not telling me the author works at the school?!” James took the book from his hands.

Will was clutching his side, crying tears of laughter. He managed to pause from his wheezing enough to say

“The guy who wrote the book is me and Stephen’s dodgy history teacher, the one you threw the shoe at.” Will burst back into deafening laughter.

Alex took the book from James, and smacked his head against it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who thought they'd already posted this chapter hours ago, then posted the wrong one 😎 couldn't be me
> 
> id say this is kinda a fun, filler, chapter, before the Actual Plot™ gets going. 
> 
> thanks for the comments and kudos and for reading this, each time i see the numbers go up i turn into a blushing mess (: ♡


	6. sicks/6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *comes out from a large, deep, hole underground* 
> 
> hi!  
> long story short:  
> \- stress  
> \- work  
> \- stress  
> \- I genuinely forgot about this 
> 
> n e way, enjoy chapter 6. I hope. (:
> 
> WARNING: drowning

How?

How was it even physically possible?

Looking at the two slumbering bodies besides Will, any sane person would have thought that James, being very tall, very imposing and very, very handsome, would be way more likely to snore than Alex, very short, very pink, and very, very, _very_ loud.

This world however, Will lamented, wasn't sane in the slightest, which was why he reckoned he would have a sounder night's sleep on the tarmac of an airport runway, than on a mattress on James' floor next to Alex. Will wanted whatever supernatural powers James had that allowed him to sleep well in the most adverse, extreme conditions. He really, really wanted them.

Maybe he should check his watch again. The last time he checked it was 02:02, which would have been cool, under different circumstances. Raising his wrist so the watch face caught the narrow streaks of moonlight dipping between the folds of the curtains in front of the window, he forced his sluggish brain to make sense of the numbers before his eyes.

0,2...and then

09.

Seven minutes. Why did time choose now to stop, rather than the countless number of times Will had begged it to when he was panicking about completing last minute essays? Why choose now to be the longest night of his life? His eyes started to drift away from his watch as he slumped down beneath the duvet, when something caught his eye. Flashes of green and blue and purple -the plastic screen of his watch was reflecting something.

He turned around, looking for the source of the mysterious disco lights. It was coming from behind the curtains, from outside the window. He rose from the mattress silently, and walked over, gently parting the fabric to peek his head through.

"What on earth...?"

Will blinked. And again.

The scene before him remained unchanged, mocking him.

He stepped back, shut the curtains and turned around, counting to ten before opening them again. He shuddered.

"Yeah, nope definitely, definitely a dream, I'm dreaming, and none of this is real." He murmured softly, a failed attempt at reassuring himself because deep in his gut, he knew quite well that this was not some passing nightmare. What he saw out there was very, very real. And it was coming.

Will crawled under the duvet, and, eventually, fell asleep.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

"PANCAAAAKES! SLIGHTLY BURNT, EXTREMELY TASTY PANCAKES!"

"WILLLLLLLLL! WILLLLLIAM! WILLIAM JONATHAN LENNNEYYYY!!!"

"Why are you still yelling you're upstairs now"

"GOOD POINT! Will if you don't get up now we are gonna scoff the lot and leave none for you."

"Still no response? That's odd...Are you sure he isn't...you know?"

"What? I don't speak cryptic."

"...err, dead?"

"Why would you even say that Alex of course he isn't...wait OH MY GOSH WHAT IF-"

"WILLLLLLLLL YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO DIEEEE! I MEAN, YOU WERE ALWAYS OLD, BUT NOT, LIKE, OLD OLD!"

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

It was pretty chill over here.

He supposed he was in some kind of fish tank, but a really huge one like at SeaLife. Just without all the fish. Unless he was the fish...nope. He was very much still human, still Will. Well he couldn't be completely human, because he was doing just fine under the water, floating peacefully rather than struggling for breath as he drowned.

He surveyed his surroundings. He could see some sort of shimmering surface in front of him, and felt a sudden compulsion to swim towards it. He wasn't the best at swimming, but here he glided through the water effortlessly.

His fingers glossed over the smooth surface. Glass. So he was in some sort of aquarium.

Maybe he was in some sort of reverse dream world, where the fish were on the outside and the humans were in the inside. That wouldn't be half bad, for a 7-year old. He sighed, preparing himself for another boring dream.

Until he noticed what was going on on the other side of the glass.

Flashes. Flashes of greens and blues and purples and he was back, back in front of that window, staring helplessly into the gates of a land worse than hell. He didn't want to look. He couldn't.

Except this time there were no curtains.

He clenched his eyes shut, desperate for some sort of relief, and something, something other, tore them right back open again, forcing him, demanding he watch but he couldn't take it his mind was splitting in two and his skull was shattering and his ears were ringing because someone was shrieking, screaming in agony, and so he pulled

and pulled

and pulled

until his body had turned away, until his eyes were sheltered and he was fine-

Water. Crushing his bones. Cascading into his lungs. He gasped, desperate for air he wouldn't get. A human reflex. It only let the water claim him faster. His limbs churned the surrounding fluid as they spiralled, frenzied, whirled. This was of no use, but the control of his own body had long passed from Will, so he let it happen. He wasn't actually drowning. His imminent death was only temporary.

Why did he feel so terrified?, he wondered, as his energy leeched into the water. Why did he feel like something fundamental was coming to an end? Why, he asked the endless expanse of water, as his body sunk, and his dulling eyes reflected flashes of purples and blues and greens.

Why him?

Someone was yelling. Arguing. Familiar. He smiled.

Someone was stroking his hair, too. Like when he was little. Calm.

Anxious hands pulled him out of the tank, and Will was dragged back.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

"CHECK HIS PULSE CHECK HIS PULSE!"

James crashed down besides Will, and brought his fingers to the boy''s neck. Alex kneeled beside him, staring intensely, before he realised that Will was quite clearly breathing.

"His chest, look," he whispered, "he's breathing so fast..."

"His pulse is really quick too...do you think he's having a nightmare? I didn't think he was the type..." Will was always the one comforting them. He was meant to be the strong one.

"Maybe, should we wak-"

An ear-splitting scream.

Will was thrashing and shrieking like he was being tortured, like his lungs had gone up in flames, and James was transfixed for a moment, his mind hesitating blankly before rational thought came surging back.

He went to call for his dad, call someone who could do anything to help his best friend when he realised his dad was already in the room, most likely summoned by the deafening noise.

Alex was holding Will's head in his hands stroking his hair softly, like Will would do to him, while James' dad did something with smelling salts that looked useless. With every stroke of Alex's hand, Will quietened. His breathing evened, and he became still. James followed Alex's example and took Will's hand in his, and was taken aback when Will jolted upright, staring at him with a wild intensity he would forever remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow you made it to the end huh? good on u. this is not where I intended the story to go at all but eeeh c'est la vie. i promise George still exists haha. there are probably some typos in here. whatevah.
> 
> have a nice life until the next time I decide to update (hopefully within the year) 
> 
> feel free to comment whatever. we did favourite cereals once so I'll give you a new question: 
> 
> favourite day of the week? mine''s Wednesdays. my Wednesdays are chilllll.
> 
> anyways, bye xx

**Author's Note:**

> :0


End file.
